Learn about the EFA
There’s no better place to find the right editor, right away!
EFA Members
EFA members are editors, writers, indexers, proofreaders, researchers, desktop publishers, translators, and others who offer a broad range of skills and specialties.
Freelancers here are part of the largest and oldest national professional organization of editorial freelancers. As a publisher or author, you want qualified professionals to work on your manuscript or project. There’s no better place to find the right editor, right away!
As a freelancer, you owe it to yourself to be a part of this organization, which is dedicated to supporting its membership and your freelance career.
EFA Provides
EFA provides resources for both freelancers and clients, including a chart of common rates.
The online EFA member directory offers clients free and instant access to the diverse assortment of highly skilled publishing professionals who make up EFA membership. The free EFA job listing service offers clients another way to find the right freelancer for the job. EFA members receive a customizable listing in the directory and access to the wide variety of project opportunities submitted by clients, along with many other membership benefits.
History of the EFA
A pioneer in organizing freelancers.
A pioneer in organizing freelancers into a network for mutual support and advancement, the EFA is now recognized throughout the publishing industry as the source for professional editorial assistance. And as editorial freelancing—indeed, freelancing in many fields of endeavor—becomes more prevalent, the association can look forward to an even brighter future.
The EFA traces its origins to 1970 when editors at Grove Press went on strike in an effort to make the publishing industry more responsive to their needs. Two Grove editors who found themselves freelancing again—Mary Heathcote and Cicely Nichols—met with several others to discuss the situation, and predicaments, of freelancers.
As the EFA steadily grew during the ’70s, a more formal structure was needed. Organizing that structure took two years. A Structure Committee wrote bylaws and created the Board of Governors, which was to be headed by two co-executives. It also created the positions of secretary and treasurer. In 1979, the EFA opened its first office, a small space in a funky building on East 20th Street in Manhattan. In 1985, the EFA hired an office manager.
In 1997, regional chapter development was initiated to enrich the EFA experience for the increasing number of members outside the New York headquarters area. The Job List began as a phone-in service; the Member Directory began as a few typed pages, then a small bound book. Both moved online and expanded as the publishing world became established on the internet and increasingly in locations far from New York City. All of the innovations, leadership, and plain hard work that have kept the EFA growing have come from volunteers.
Meet the EFA Staff
We have a team of passionate individuals who live and breathe our core values of Community, Expertise, and Opportunity while serving our members each and every day.
About the EFA
A place to belong.
The EFA is a national not-for-profit —501(c)6— organization, headquartered in New York City, run almost entirely by member volunteers, all of whom are also freelancers. The Board of Directors oversees the EFA’s operations and keeps the membership informed of developments within the association. The EFA’s members, experienced in a wide range of professional skills, live and work all across the United States and in other countries.
We at the EFA welcome and value members of all backgrounds. We don’t discriminate, but more than that, we want the EFA to be an organization where all can feel they belong. We welcome people of every race, color, culture, religion or no religion, gender identity, gender expression, age, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, citizenship, education, ability, health, neurotype, marital/parental status, socio-economic background, sexual orientation, and/or military status. We are nothing without our members, and encourage everyone to volunteer and to participate in our community. Read our full anti-harassment policy.
Meet the EFA Board of Directors
The Board of Directors oversees the EFA’s operations and keeps the membership informed of developments within the association.
